When faculty members consider copyright in the digital age, it is often in relation to things they can't (or shouldn't) do. For example, they can't have too much material placed in online reserve, they can't scan journal articles to create digital versions of what used to be called "course packs," and they can't post an excerpt from a work of…

What qualities are the essence of a top-notch university professor? "Enthusiastic." "Fun." "Interesting." "Cares about students." These attributes are listed in student reviews of America's number one professor for 2009, as determined by the Web site ratemyprofessor.com. Other students made these comments about the same instructor: "Very easy A,"…

Being literate in a real-world sense means being able to read and write using the media forms of the day, whatever they may be. For centuries, consuming and producing words through reading and writing and, to a lesser extent, listening and speaking were sufficient. But because of inexpensive, easy-to-use, and widely available new tools, literacy…

In humanities, there does not seem to be any good reason to privilege the academic journal over other venues. If the goal of humanities publishing is to spread new ideas, then it seems that creating a popular Internet blog would be the better choice. However, the goal of humanities publishing is not just to spread new ideas, but to spread "good"…

Asserts that the systematic de-emphasis of print (as opposed to electronic) media and the unique habits of mind they alone inculcate suppresses the spirit of inquiry because it foreshortens the horizon of ideas to which a student may be exposed and narrows the cognitive options for developing and exploring alternative ways of thinking. (EV)

The American Association of University Professors' report on intellectual property rights summarizes federal copyright law on issues that concern faculty: ownership; commercialization; revenue distribution; works created for colleges and universities; fair use; traditional, electronic, and multimedia materials; Internet/World Wide Web; digital…